Epitaxial growth and the reactors for obtaining it have been known for many decades; they are based on the technique known as “CVD” (Chemical Vapor Deposition).
A technical field in which they are used is that of the production of electronic components; the processes and the reactors for this application are particular because a very high quality of the deposited layers is required and the quality requirements are continuously on the rise.
One type of epitaxial reactor uses a “susceptor” which is inserted in a reaction chamber and which supports one or more substrates to be subjected to epitaxial growth (see reference numerals 10 and 1000 in FIG. 1A); as known, the substrates may be perfectly circular or often with a “flat” (see substrate 1000 in FIG. 1B).
The present invention indeed relates to such a susceptor, in particular for high-temperature (1550-1750° C.) epitaxial growth of silicon carbide.
Typically, reactors with hot wall reaction chamber are used for the high-temperature epitaxial growth of silicon carbide; the heating of the chamber and susceptor is generally obtained by means of electromagnetic induction or resistance.
Most of the prior art (FIG. 1) relates to the epitaxial growth of silicon, with process temperatures up to 1250° C., and to the corresponding reactors; indeed, only rather recently have electronic components of silicon carbide become slightly more widely used.
Frequently, in epitaxial reactors for high-temperature epitaxial growth of silicon carbide, the susceptor is entirely made of graphite and entirely coated by means of the deposition of a thin layer of silicon carbide (in FIG. 1A, the dashed line indicates the boundary between the outer silicon carbide and the inner graphite); furthermore, the susceptor comprises one or more recesses (see the single recess in FIG. 1A with the substrate 1000 inserted therein) in which the substrates to be treated are manually inserted and from which the treated substrates are manually extracted; finally, the susceptor is loaded into the reaction chamber with the substrates to be treated and is unloaded from the reaction chamber with the treated substrates.